D&D 3E/3.5 4E reminded me how much I like 3E

[rushtong]

Basically, 4E drove me back to the 3E fold. I haven't played Savage Worlds since 4E was released, although I still like that system. I am engaged in several new 3.5 games, and they're all going really well. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

Add me, and most of the players in my pbem games, to this category. I was initially extremely happy about resolving the known problems and unnecessary complexities with 3.5 and was thrilled when word came out that 4e would solve most, if not all, of these problems. As more and more was revealed, I was really excited about the new edition and was very willing to overlook some of the ham-handedness/incompetence of certain things (GSL, Spellplague, missing classes/races, etc.)

When it finally came out, we played ... and ... meh. Sure, it did some things nicely, but added as much complexity in some areas as it took away in others. I really felt like a sucker for taking the bait hook, line, and sinker. We all went back to 3.5, and then discovered Paizo's new alpha. We've found that, while not perfect, it addresses a lot of the problems we had with 3.5. It had the added benefit of keeping all the good stuff we liked and was as familiar as a comfortable pair of boots.

WotC doesn't mean DnD to me anymore - they have moved on to something else and left DnD to others like Paizo to take the reins.

 

[GlassJaw]

In 3.x your char is weak if you do not multi-class and have 3-4 prestige classes.

Well that certainly isn't true.

 

[Monkey Boy]

In 3.x your char is weak if you do not multi-class and have 3-4 prestige classes. Spell casters are easier to run and create. I also love the direction that the RPGA LFR campaign is going.

Oh dear. This is so far off the mark I don't know where to begin. Wizards, Clerics, Druids are all much better than the rest. If you multi-class them you are doing your character a diservice. You can play a power house just using core as splats add little if anything to these mighty character classes.

I agree that spellcasters are easier to play in 4e; the plethora of choice once available to casters has been removed. To some this is a bug rather than a feature as system mastery is removed from the game.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

In 3.x your char is weak if you do not multi-class and have 3-4 prestige classes. Spell casters are easier to run and create. I also love the direction that the RPGA LFR campaign is going.

This is completely untrue. It's more then possible to take a single class in many cases and simply drive them straight to twenty. It's easy to make a character who only multiclasses once. And the PrCs don't have to be complicated, or rare, or rely on fidgety mechanics. I've done it. I've seen it done. By experienced and new players.

This isn't a flaw in mechanics, it's a flaw in people, pushed on by that cancerous growth that is the CharOps forums and their stupid "logical puzzles." For some people, it's not enough to make a character - they have to break it. Blaming that on the edition is simply incorrect. Flat out, it's false

 

[Gundark]

I smell an edition war coming

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I smell an edition war coming

Naw. Someone made a comment on 3e that was false and was correted rather swiftly by a number of people. So long as nobody tries to push it...

 

[Mercule]

I really don't get this "complaint" when it comes to 3.5. I mean no one forces you to use every book that comes out...and 4.0 will soon have a multitude of splats with new stuff in it as well.

This is quite true. I'm not so concerned with how much stuff is available as I am with how easy it is to manage.

I like shadow-based magic, and have had it written into my campaign since 1e, when a simple illusionist or shade would work. In 3.5, the Tome of Magic was a no-brainer. I'm excited that Shadow will be an official power source at some point (hopefully sooner than later).

I also like swashbucklers, demons, and undead. That's quite a few books I've picked up trying to get the right feats/PrCs/base classes to do swashbuckler or just make the others more interesting. I also like psionics -- much more than arcanists, even.

I didn't have to get all those books, but the alternative was to create the rules myself, because I want to include those elements.

 

[The Cardinal]

After seeing the rules and playing a couple sessions I have a desire to dive right into 4E............GURPS.

Welcome, brother! Especially since SJG announced today that there will be dead-tree versions of the most excellent GURPS Dungeon Fantasy series at GenCon

 

[Grimstaff]

I smell an edition war coming

Indeed.

 

[AllisterH]

I have to disagree with Cirno.

You can't just blame the char-op but look at the adventures themselves.

Seriously, Paizo is somewhat infamous for "slapping on templates to bypass the CR of creatures" which DO require that you have a min-maxxed character.

Hell, pre-4E announcement, one of the main complaints against Paizo WAS the excessive need to min-max your character because of the lethality of the encounters.